DFM Youth Program holds first activity at AMC

Detroit Future Media Youth Program's first open event was a co-facilitated workshop on Friday, June 24th at the 2011 Allied Media Conference (AMC). This session illuminated the interconnected ecosystem of Detroit and Highland Park's youth media and social justice programs and organizations. The science fair format allowed for each group to present the main hypothesis of their work and show the experimental and innovative ways they are applying them for their community's needs and visions.

Rather than volcanoes shooting baking soda lava, and science fair style display boards, each group facilitated a short interactive workshop activity. The network showcased its efforts to cross-pollinate youth social justice and media grassroots efforts and to shift from youth service, to youth led activism and organizing. Youth from the Detroit area and beyond showed up and packed the room.

The Detroit Future Media Youth Program presented an interactive workshop on the value of creating a network.

The Michigan Roundtable and Detroit Asian Youth Project highlighted the importance of open dialogue in transformation work through an interactive exercise that included the use of social media and small group discussion.

Capuchin Earth Works and Capuchin Rosa Parks programs worked together to break down Detroit's food system. Volunteers from the audience formed a human knot that represented different aspects of the food system. The volunteers worked together to untangle the food system.

Urban Neighborhood Initiative's Real Media and East Michigan Environmental Council's Remedia program facilitated a short interactive storyboarding activity. Audience members created a storyboard for a film of their own creation, while watching video clips of finished products.

Vanguard Community Development Corporation’s Young Social Entrepreneur Society and Young Nation partnered on an interactive activity in which audience members worked together to create individual tiles that turned into a small mural.

Five Elements Gallery, The Heru and Detroit Impact lead an exercise that demonstrated how to use basic media skills to make a profit while benefiting the community. Volunteers for this activity designed t-shirts and advertised using social media.

Detroit Summer and Ruth Ellis Center's Out and Upfront program closed out the session with an interactive workshop about how interviews of community members can be a useful tool in designing community organizing projects.

This interactive, youth led workshop would not have been complete without a young DJ spinning between each activity.